Fit Note Data

PLANS FOR COLLECTING ANONYMOUS FIT NOTE DATA

PATIENT INFORMATION

Fit notes are issued to patients by doctors following an assessment of their fitness for work.

The Department of Work and Pensions are collecting fit note data to inform policy development and evaluate the Fit for Work Service. The data will be collected from February 2016 and will be published from spring 2016.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), the NHS’s data centre, will receive anonymous data using software already within our computers.

Statistics derived from fit notes will be used to gain a better understanding of sickness absence across England in order that policy can be developed to provide support where it is most needed. No individual patients will be identifiable.